Weekly poll results: smartwatches are becoming more popular, especially the advanced ones

Smartwatches are the most popular type of smartwatch. Nearly half of respondents have one according to last week’s poll. The challenges for makers are laid out in the second poll, the most important feature of a smartwatch or band is long battery life.

Depending on the usage, watches that run watchOS, Wear OS or Tizen, they can last for between 1 and 4 days. Improving on that will take a lot of work as the form factor limits battery capacity while advanced features require more power.

For those wearing a smart device on their wrists, the basic smartwatch was the second most popular option, though a very distant one with only about a third of the popularity. This is surprising considering their performance in meeting the requirements of the second poll. Some smartwatches have advanced health monitoring (e.g. ECG) and there is a variety of cool and/or durable designs to choose from.

They are not very good at app support or advanced connectivity features but they rank at the bottom in the second poll.

The requirement for a big display is in the lower half, which explains why some are happy with their smart bands. These bands can be as affordable as the basic smartwatches and are often just as reliable, however they were the least-popular of all three.

By the way, the second poll allowed users to pick more than one option. On average, voters chose 3 options as what matters to them. Smartwatches do not have to excel at all things, but they must be good at certain important tasks.

Makers of full-powered smartwatches need to focus on improving battery life, but they probably know that already. Makers of basic smartwatches should focus on better marketing, perhaps, as their products feel underappreciated.